Welcome to the Reclaim Health website

Are you fed up with feeling unwell? Have you found that people say they can’t do anything for you? We are a team who have developed ways to help you to Reclaim your Health, so do read on.

Symptoms – Many, many people suffer from troublesome and distressing symptoms for which scans and blood tests cannot provide an explanation. In fact only half of all symptoms are caused by pathology such as cancer, allergies and infections. Those which cannot be explained in this way are called “functional symptoms”. Such symptoms are found in illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome/ME, fibromyalgia and irritable bowel syndrome. Functional symptoms such as pain are certainly not imaginary – they are very real and may be totally disabling, but are difficult to treat. Carers of people with functional symptoms often struggle to understand their illness. We hope that the information on our website will help.

The science – Functional illnesses are causedby a disturbance in the body (maybe following a viral infection or other illness) which becomes stuck in an inappropriate state. Research supports the use of methods such as cognitive behavioural therapy, mindfulness and breathing retraining to show people how to alter their body state and bring the body and mind back into a healthy balance. For more information on the science,

The book – We have just published a book which summarises our programme. The paperback is available to purchase here.

The intervention – We have developed an educational intervention, based on successful courses already being run by our therapists (who have both themselves recovered from severe chronic fatigue syndrome). The course integrates techniques including mindfulness-based cognitive behavioural coaching and breath work. It includes an explanation of the symptoms in terms of disturbed body function, and will be supported by web-based resources, including videos and downloadable booklets. If successful, this low-cost intervention could be used throughout the NHS to help people with a wide range of problems. You might benefit from attending our programme, which is designed to enable you to:

Understand how you can control your mind and body to function more effectively

Learn tools and techniques to reset mind and body balance

Implement strategies to help you reclaim your health and wellbeing. The programme is not suitable for everyone; we offer a free assessment with a therapist to find out whether it will fit with your current needs.

This is a three-day course.

On Day 1 you will learn:

How to experience life in a mindful context

How the body and mind work together (PNIE model)

What is neural plasticity

How our response to stress can be useful AND not so useful

The things that are under our influence

A simple and compassionate way to engage in a process of change with coaching.

On Day 2 you will learn:

The power of beliefs and how to change them

The effect of breathing and how to breathe more effectively

2 more easy ways to engage in a process of change

On Day 3 you will learn:

2 more things that our under our influence

Putting it all together

Possible pitfalls and how to find the life raft!

What is Reclaim Health? – We are a not-for-profit UK group formed in 2014 and registered as a Community Interest Company. The group includes doctors, therapists, educationalists, researchers and expert ex-patients. Our team is developing an integrated programme to help people to recover from a variety of illnesses. This approach has proven successful for two of our team members, and several others who have so far gone through the programme. It has been endorsed from within the NHS, and will be thoroughly trialled and evaluated. We have been awarded £20,000 NHS Research Capability Funding to develop the course and work towards a research grant application.

If you are interested in applying for our programme, please fill in an application form here: